The present invention relates generally to the removal and collection of shed antlers from antlered animals. Specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for removing shed antlers from antlered animals while minimizing the risk of damage to the animals themselves.
According to the North American Shed Hunter""s Club, the human urge to collect animal parts such as hides, skulls, teeth, leg bones, horns and antlers dates from the dawn of human history. The cave walls of Lasceaux document the hunt for animals, particularly antlered animals, by early man. Consumption of animals, then, was primarily for survival, while the by-products were used for personal adornment or as ornamental pieces to recognize successful hunts.
While hunting remains a popular pastime, the popularity of collecting naturally shed big game antlers, such as those shed by whitetail deer, mule deer, elk, and other antlered species, is increasing phenomenally.
Shed antlers are a natural, renewable and recyclable big game xe2x80x9cby-product.xe2x80x9d Once antlers are shed from their host, they are a natural by-product which deteriorates into the soil. Once collected, shed antlers are put to myriad uses. Antlers are used in the traditional medical practices of many cultures. They are used as decorative elements in lamps, furnishings, architecture, and other products. Hunters typically use shed antlers to xe2x80x9crattle inxe2x80x9d game during hunting season. The demand for antlers is ever-increasing due to these exemplary uses and many others.
The collection of shed antlers is a non-consumptive sport, of which it has been said that xe2x80x9clooking for naturally shed antlers is much like hunting for more mushrooms in the spring, or wild berries in the summer.xe2x80x9d Traditional methods of shed hunting involve scouting, tracking, perseverance, and not a little luck. While the general season of antler shedding is a particular region may be known, it is impossible to predict the precise time and location at which a particular animal will shed its antlers. Tracking an animal such as, for example, a bull elk, in order to catch even a fleeting glimpse is a difficult and time-consuming task. To track such an animal for perhaps weeks at a time during shed season, hoping to be present at the precise moment of shedding, would be prohibitively difficult at best.
In many areas, it is common to provide feeders, or other attractants such as salt licks, for antlered game animals. In these instances, it has been known to position chicken wire in a generally funnel-shaped configuration in hopes of dislodging antlers about to be shed. Unfortunately, this practice has proven to have limited effectiveness. Worse, animals frequently are trapped in the chicken wire, with the result that the animal is badly injured or killed.
It can be seen that the need exists for a simple, inexpensive, method and apparatus for effectively removing shed antlers from antlered animals at a predictable location while minimizing the risk of damage to the animals themselves.
These and other objects are achieved by providing an antler removal and collection device including an antlered animal attractant holder adapted and constructed to hold an antlered animal attractant. The device also includes a flexible antler removal assembly mounted in proximity with the antlered animal attractant holder, the flexible antler removal assembly including at least one elastic antler removal element. The at least one elastic antler removal element is adapted and constructed to exert sufficient force to remove antlers that are ready to be shed by animals coming into proximity with the antlered animal attractant, but insufficient force to trap the antlered animal in the flexible antler removal assembly.
The flexible antler removal assembly can include at least one frame assembly upon which the at least one elastic antler removal element is mounted. In an embodiment, the at least one frame assembly is provided as a pair of frame assemblies and a corresponding pair of elastic antler removal elements. Each of the frame assemblies can include an upper arm mounted above the antlered animal attractant holder, and a retaining hook mounted below the upper arm. The elastic antler removal elements can be configured as a plurality of elastic strap members connected between the upper arm and retaining hooks of the frame assemblies.
In an alternative embodiment, the frame assembly are provided as a pair of generally concentric rings mounted to a feeding device. The elastic antler removal elements can be provided as a plurality of elastic strap members connected between the rings of the frame assembly, or alternatively as a generally frustoconical net connected between the rings of the frame assembly.
The features of the invention believed to be patentable are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.